Rhino Revolver by Chiappa?

Been seeing this in Shooting Times and finally googled it. Anyone have a chance to shoot one of these? Looks ugly but fun to shoot. Something in 44mag with this design has a lot of potential...

http://thetruthaboutguns.com/2010/10/chris-dumm/gun-review-chiappa-firearms-rhino/

It's definitely ugly, but it has several great features, with a couple of flaws.

The bottom chamber, in-line design is great. I've wondered for years why it wasn't offered by anyone (except Mateba, which was ridiculously expensive).

The convoluted nature of the firing mechanism in order to present a stubby cocking spur is just wasteful. Better to skip the cocking spur (it's not the hammer, just connected to the hammer), and make a nice sleek snag-free shrouded design.

I like the flat sides on the cylinder, but overall the gun could do with some rounding; drop that useless cocking spur, give the whole thing a good meltdown treatment, and line up some holster makers as partners.

Rhino revolver = A Republican candidate who tells you when you ask if they support constitutional carry and tell you yes , then once elected do nothing to advance it and starts talking a permit system.

I agree with KBcraig. It shoots like a house afire. Very accurate for the range intended. Could use some prettying up I think but then again some like the rugged look. I should talk. I shoot a Mark VI Webley. My only negative on the Rhino is the grips don't fit right for my hands. I'm sure someone will come out with after market grips if the gun proves popular. It already has a pretty good following. I think the first thing I would do is grind off the hammer. As KBcraig says it has no functional purpose during use as personal protection.

Have been really unimpressed with the build quality of everything I've seen made by Cheap-a! Maybe the rhino's the exception, find somewhere to shoot it before buying.

KBCraig said:

I've wondered for years why it wasn't offered by anyone (except Mateba, which was ridiculously expensive).

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This was designed by the same guy who did the Mateba. Personally, I can't wait to try one. I like the looks of the five incher.

springfield 1911 said:

Rhino revolver = A Republican candidate who tells you when you ask if they support constitutional carry and tell you yes , then once elected do nothing to advance it and starts talking a permit system.

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Very good. You just invented a new political term.

I got a chance to shoot one of these in Tennessee, it was a fairly nice gun. Though I am not a fan of Chippa, I was pretty impressed. The most notable feature was the fact that the design lends itself to more manageable recoil. It is far more in line with the axis of your arm, so there is a lot less muzzle flip and the recoil was more easily absorbed with the arm instead of mainly in the hands.

I didn't like the feel of the grip though. I thought it could have used an ergonomic rubber mold or something to that effect.

If that is meant to be a carry gun they need to despur the whole thing and melt the edges down.

I really like the concept of the low barrel, but would be curious to see the mechanism used to achieve a strike; for some reason the pictures of the interior of a G11 come to mind; even though I know it isn't some fancy clockwork amalgam, I'd imagine it takes a number of extra pieces to transfer the strike.

As far as .44 magnum out of that guy, I thought I read somewhere that for it to achieve a ballistic coefficient greater than a .38 special it needed to be fired from a barrel longer than 4 inches; I'm not positive those are the exact numbers and calibers, but it definately had to do with revolver rounds, and the barrel length is darn close.

I guess I'd have to hold it and shoot it to say for sure, but what Jack said sounds totally reasonable, especially if it were in .38 special

SIGdude said:

If that is meant to be a carry gun they need to despur the whole thing and melt the edges down.

I really like the concept of the low barrel, but would be curious to see the mechanism used to achieve a strike; for some reason the pictures of the interior of a G11 come to mind; even though I know it isn't some fancy clockwork amalgam, I'd imagine it takes a number of extra pieces to transfer the strike.

As far as .44 magnum out of that guy, I thought I read somewhere that for it to achieve a ballistic coefficient greater than a .38 special it needed to be fired from a barrel longer than 4 inches; I'm not positive those are the exact numbers and calibers, but it definately had to do with revolver rounds, and the barrel length is darn close.

I guess I'd have to hold it and shoot it to say for sure, but what Jack said sounds totally reasonable, especially if it were in .38 special

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Yeah it's an ugly little spud. Getting rid of the 'cocker' would be nice and rounding it out. The reason this thing really impressed me is in the videos at the link I posted. The recoil (or lack of) out of that gun with a .357mag load was crazy impressive.

I got to hold and dry fire one at Fletcher's. I don't remember anymore what I didn't like about it, but I just didn't like it.

Just lookin from the pic....and Never seeing one in person or having held one
I see a few things I dont like about it already.

That trigger is pretty far forward....which means the linkage required to turn the
cylinder is going to need quite abit of travel to have any mechanical advantage and the same amount of return travel to reset the trigger.Any lost or negative mechanical advantage in the trigger linkage means a heavy or heavier trigger pull weight.

DA trigger pull compared to single action trigger pull is almost always heavier and longer for revolvers.
With that in mind..alot of novice shooters (and even some experienced shooters) who dont get very much practice shooting DA guns usually have a tendency to shoot low.
Reason is.... with the heavier trigger pull they forget to isolate and use only the trigger finger muscles thru the trigger pull and tend to pull with the whole hand and the result drops the gun off the sight picture and the bullet strikes lower than intended and this could be compounded with the under slung barrel.

Even tho the felt recoil with the underslung barrel may be noticeably less,my own thoughts are this isnt a novice or beginners gun.

LR Yote

Checked it out at SHOT. Definitely a cool piece.

SIGdude said:

....
I really like the concept of the low barrel, but would be curious to see the mechanism used to achieve a strike; for some reason the pictures of the interior of a G11 come to mind; even though I know it isn't some fancy clockwork amalgam, I'd imagine it takes a number of extra pieces to transfer the strike....

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Here you are....
View attachment 5613

Guns and Ammo had it as their cover story for February 2011.

Love/Hate

I love the engineering concept and I even like the looks of the Rhino; but the DA trigger pull is a deal breaker/epic fail. C'mon, really; 15 gritty pounds of trigger pull? :banghead: If you've ever shot a revolver with a good trigger job, you know what I mean. Maybe it is really designed for Klingons..

davegran said:

I love the engineering concept and I even like the looks of the Rhino; but the DA trigger pull is a deal breaker/epic fail. C'mon, really; 15 gritty pounds of trigger pull? :banghead: If you've ever shot a revolver with a good trigger job, you know what I mean. Maybe it is really designed for Klingons..

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Well from a completely carry prospective, the way it keeps the muzzle on target during rapid fire I would think it would be a great pistol. It's definitely not a bullseye gun.

davegran said:

Here you are....
View attachment 5613

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Damn those innards look like a Chinese puzzle. :uhoh:

Are they numbered and color coded?

davegran said:

I love the engineering concept and I even like the looks of the Rhino; but the DA trigger pull is a deal breaker/epic fail. C'mon, really; 15 gritty pounds of trigger pull? :banghead: If you've ever shot a revolver with a good trigger job, you know what I mean. Maybe it is really designed for Klingons..

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Best wheel gun I ever shot was a guys at a range. He saw me struggling with my .44, and gave me 6 shots from his .357 Smith. He had just gotten it back after some super trigger work was done to it. The trigger was so clean, crisp, and smooth, it is still the best I have ever put my finger on.
My Ruger .44 mag came with a 12-14 pound, gritty junk trigger... It took me two years to figure out that the trigger was killing my aim...
I replaced the springs (real small ones in that thing, and don't let that little ball fly (like I did)), and polished it all up. Now my .44 is like a new gun. Trigger cracks like the best of them. Got it down to about 4.5 pounds now, and love it. I would add that I do not carry this gun, as it is a bit large with the scope on it and all...
I was thinking about working on my .38 snub, but I am not so sure what I would get in return from so small a gun... If anyone has had any trigger work done on a small snub .38, or .357 let me know if it was worth it to you. Might help me make up my mind...

AaronS said:

I was thinking about working on my .38 snub, but I am not so sure what I would get in return from so small a gun... If anyone has had any trigger work done on a small snub .38, or .357 let me know if it was worth it to you. Might help me make up my mind...

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It can really make a difference on a snubby.

Bought a Model 60 S&W about 30 years ago. Immediately had the hammer bobbed and trigger work done by a retired factory S&W gunsmith - such a smooth double action trigger I could not believe. HipHugger grip panels and a Tyler T-Grip to fill my hand better were added, rounding out the package. Qualified easily with it, even though it is only a 5 shot. Still carry it as a BUG to this day, exactly the way it was done then.

I know I could have bought a shrouded hammer gun with 6 bean holes, but I just don't like the way they look and prefer the narrowness of the mod. 60. The biggest thing of all though was the superb trigger work.